Stop FPV drones to protect video by COFDM digital video

How to protect the real-time video of drones from interference? Here is a relative article about stop FPV drones to protect video, we think COFDM digital wireless video transmitter and receiver is recommended.

Translate News from https://focus.ua/digital/673099-shtory-protiv-fpv-dronov-kak-rabotaet-novaya-reb-rossii.

Blind and falling: how “REB-curtains” stop Ukrainian kamikaze drones and is there protection (video)

Suppression of video channels of FPV drones of Ukrainian units has become a frequent phenomenon on the battlefield. Experts said that it is possible to oppose.

Russian troops are now quite effectively using electronic warfare equipment that interferes with the transmission of video from attack FPV drones. Focus found out how it works, what damage it does to the Defense Forces of Ukraine, and how to protect yourself.

The “eyes” of drones were closed: a new threat on the front

Military consultant Serhiy Beskrestnov, with the pseudonym “Flash”, wrote on Facebook at the end of September that many Ukrainian FPV drone pilots are hindered by the Russians’ EW devices, which affect the video signal. The people nicknamed them “curtains” – after the shape of the obstacle that appears on the screens. As a result, operators cannot control the aircraft because they cannot see where they are flying.

Russian fighters first intercept the video of an unknown FPV drone at a certain frequency, determine that it is hostile – by the name of the unit, which is written in the OSD menu, or by the increase in signal strength, after which they estimate the battery charge and the time for which the jamming should be turned on.

“This is especially a problem for repeaters. They hang high, see far, and even 20-30 km away, their video receiver can be an obstacle. There would be power. So far, many are getting away with changing and selecting frequencies, but this solution is banal, painful, and temporary,” – writes “Flash”.

How “curtains” work: pros and cons

An engineer of the “Sky of Victory” project, which produces “Grim” FPV drones for the Ukrainian army, expressed his opinion about the obstacles to Focus anonymously. According to him, “Curtain”-type devices affect only the video channel, throwing off the synchronization between the video transmitter on the drone and the pilot’s video receiver. As a result of the action of the system, after losing the image from the drone, the pilot cannot navigate in space and continue the flight, in such conditions, the copter simply falls.

“It is designed specifically to combat FPV drones,” the specialist noted.

Serhii Gerasimyuk, the founder of Antidron Ukraine, a company that produces EW devices, explained to Focus in more detail how it works. It is impossible to suppress the analog video signal affecting the FPV drone because it has a Video Transmitter (VTX), that is, a transmitter, but there is no receiver in the same range, so it does not “listen” to anything.

Suppressing video in the case of FPV drones is only possible by creating radio interference to the pilot’s receiver. It is impossible to do this with a dome because the operators are never 50-200 meters away from the working EW devices.

“On the market, there are a lot of offers of EW-domes with video suppression. But this speaks of only one thing – about the expertise of the manufacturer, or rather, its complete absence,” the developer noted.

To suppress the video of an FPV drone, a powerful complex with an antenna directed toward the enemy “nest” of pilots is required. To do this, you need to know the azimuth, that is, the direction where to point it. It can be installed only with the help of technical means of radio electronic intelligence (ER), both specialized and cheap “video receivers” with auto-search for the desired range, which can be found on Aliexpress.

The operator of such equipment intercepts the “picture” and must visually determine the terrain, as well as the approximate location of enemy pilots. Then the antenna is directed and interference is created at the same frequencies as the video signal.

“This is not a dome where you “turned on and forgot”. An effective countermeasure of this type is already a certain complex, algorithm of actions. And only timely, consecutive actions allow you to achieve a positive result. That is, it is at least a two-person calculation with everything necessary for timely interception video, determination of the direction, the presence of a directed “jammer” on that range, operational guidance, and setting obstacles. And all this must be done before the FPV arrives at the target it was flying to,” stressed Serhiy Gerasimyuk.

Even with everything in place for success, EW operators may lack the time or reaction to determine direction and direct their devices. But despite all the difficulties, the algorithm has a certain percentage of efficiency. In addition to the usual video bands (5.8/1.2 GHz), both sides also use non-standard bands (1.5/3.3/4.9 GHz), for which there are no means of intercepting the video channel, or their choice is quite limited due to their less “popularity”. Everything depends on the availability of all the necessary means, and even in this case, fighters may not know where to direct the available means of countermeasures.

Is it possible to break through the “curtain”

The engineer of “Sky of Victory” says that it is quite possible to counteract the suppression systems of video signals of FPV drones. Such solutions already exist, but the engineer did not go into details, so as not to simplify the life of the enemy and not to give hints on how to bypass the Ukrainian analogs of “curtains”.

In the network, experts are discussing replacing the analog video channel with a digital one, and the above-mentioned Sergey Beskrestnov also supports this option. The representative of “Sky of Victory” believes that digital systems will help solve only some highly specialized tasks because they have a number of pros and cons.

“Unfortunately, digital wireless COFDM video transmission system takes a long time to recover after signal loss and does not allow quick response to the situation in flight,” he said.